The Game
by Sandshadow9
Summary: Umber and Sora's sibs are at the Healing Center for a visit. Flame has sworn to be on his best behaviour, but when an overprotective sister starts causing trouble Flame struggles to keep his old temper in bounds. Healed AU. T for coarse language (classic Flame).
1. Chapter 1

_It's way too early to be doing this shit._

Flame's numbed talons hastened to fasten the last few buttons on his vest. It was a chilly morning at the Healing Center; late fall had arrived in a series of freezing rainstorms and howling winds that had screamed between the mountains to bring the Northern airstreams down upon them. Every breath out was a cloud of steam and Flame's cheeks felt pinched by the snappy air.

Even worse was that the sky had decided to be a worm-breathed pile of trash and not let any sun through. In every direction, like an angry ocean before a storm, thick gray clouds swallowed every drop of blue. Flame knew the sun was somewhere behind that angry looking barrier because the whole thing was glowing ominously like some super evil cloud of doom. Flame wished he could fly up there and punch a giant hole to let the sun in. He shivered. It was way too early to be doing this shit.

A brush of warmth slid over his scales and Flame looked down to see Umber reclined against his side. The MudWing didn't seem to be paying attention; his keen eyes were still locked onto the sky, but the fact that he had done the action out of habit or instinct made it even cuter in Flame's mind. The SkyWing opened his wing and scooped it around the smaller form. Umber jolted for a moment, surprised, before casting a grateful smile up at Flame and cuddling in closer.

Despite the cold Umber wasn't nearly as dressed as Flame. The smaller dragon was adorned in only a scarf, a stark contrast to Flame's vest, neck-cozy, and gloves. The mixture of rain and freezing temperatures had turned the soil into a muddy battleground, but not the soft silky kind of mud Umber liked to roll around in. This stuff was the hard packed ice filled kind that was cold on top of even more cold. He didn't know how Umber could bare to sink his talons into it while his own multi-layered gloves couldn't even keep out the gnawing bite of winter.

He pulled Umber in tighter, reveling in the shared heat.

His only consolation was that Jet looked twice as miserable.

"D-don't you think it's a b-bit early?" Jet asked, her voice shivering along with her body. She sat a few feet away, wings and tail wrapped tightly around her limbs. The question had been opened to everyone but she looked at Sora as she spoke. The MudWing female sat comfortably at Jet's side wearing nothing but a smile, having given her red scarf to Jet a while ago. She gave her girlfriend a pert look.

"We're not _that_ early," her response was tart but soften with a tease. She nudged Jet in the side. "You're just complaining because it's cold. If you want you can go and wait inside – "

"I'm not cold!" Jet stuck out her chest with stubborn resolve.

"Yes you are you big baby," Flame contributed. Jet fixed him with a searing glare and he stuck his tongue out at her.

Umber butted his head against Flame's chest. "Play nice, Flame," he scolded with mock seriousness. "You have to be on your best behaviour today in front of the guests."

Flame knew Umber was just joking, but that didn't stop the pit of anxiety from sinking to the bottom of his stomach. He was not looking forward to these guests but for Umber's sake he would grin and bear it and try not to be a big stinker on the reunion. Besides, Umber had put up with all _his_ relatives without losing his cool or punching anyone; truly an amazing feat considering what Flame's mother was like. So, because Umber was just that wonderful and amazing, Flame was going to try his best to be the model boyfriend he knew deep down he wasn't.

"Look there!" Sora's quick shout stopped the bickering. She pointed to a blotchy speck in the sky and the other's followed its direction. "Is that them? I can't tell."

"Considering how last time you saw something it ended up just being a pair of seagulls I wouldn't get my hopes up yet," Flame said, secretly hoping it was another pair of seagulls.

It wasn't.

Soon the tiny blotch became two tiny blotches, then large blotches, then distinctly MudWing shaped. Marsh and Clay's talons were barely on the ground before Sora and Umber were upon them. Jet and Flame stayed back and watched the mushy scene unfold. Clay wrapped them all in a giant hug that promptly fell apart into even more hugging and laughing. It was nauseatingly cute.

"Sorry we're so early," Clay said among the activity. "I guess Jade Mountain isn't as far as it looked on the map…"

"Don't be sorry!" Umber burst. He was still resting beneath Clay's wing like a mouse under a blanket. "Being sorry for being early is like apologizing for making too many cakes! Or telling too many funny jokes. It just doesn't exist!"

Flame had to disagree with what his boyfriend was saying, especially after that time he had made double the order of cakes and had to eat the extras (he hadn't been able to taste anything but red velvet for a week), but he kept his lips firmly clamped. He was on his best behaviour, after all.

"That just means we get to spend even MORE time with you both!" Sora spoke these words as she brought Marsh into a hug so tight his eyes bulged. It wasn't enough to wipe the smile off the smaller dragons face. When Sora finally released him, Marsh studied her, his face brightening.

"Sora, I can't remember the last time I've seen you smile this much." His voice was proud and relieved all at once.

"Yeah!" Clay chimed in. "You're barely the same dragon you were when you started at the academy." He chuckled. "If you weren't my own sister I might not even recognize you!"

Sora giggled and shrugged. "I guess being here has really helped and…" her gaze skittered to Jet, "I've had lots of support and love to guide me."

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Jet's outburst made Flame flinch. She stomped over to the MudWings and Flame, not wanting to be the only one standing off to the side like some weirdo, sighed and followed. He took his place at Umber's side, happy to be where he belonged once again, while Jet stood behind Sora and wrapped the MudWing in sheets of silken wings while setting her head atop brown dragon. "SORA IS DOING EXTREMELY WELL AND WE'RE ALL SO PROUD OF HER!"

"Uh, Jet? I appreciate your enthusiasm but might want to lower your volume," Sora suggested with no small amount of amusement. Marsh and Clay exchanged smirks.

"So this is Jet, eh?" Marsh asked in a way that was more a statement than an actual question. "Your mother is Sora's Healer?"

Jet blinked, astonished. "Yes…how did you know that?"

"Sora told us a lot about you in the letter she wrote you," Clay informed, "Like, _a lot_ a lot, as in, _three paragraphs worth of information that I didn't need to know_."

Sora blushed but was unashamed. "Oops. I didn't realize I wrote so much. I tried to stay on topic but – " she turned her head back towards Jet, " – it was hard to write about anything BUT you."

Jet, always the one with something to say, was too flustered for words. She hugged Sora tighter and made a weird choked noise in her throat that made Sora laugh.

Flame snorted at Jet's expense, finally pleased to see some other than him become tied up in their own oozy feelings. It instantly backfired on him when the noise drew the attention of the two guests. They honed in on him and Flame's body seized up. _Uh oh. UH OH._

"And Flame! It's good to see you again," Marsh said and Flame was left to wonder if he meant it. There were very few dragons on this continent that were ever happy to see him again. Meanwhile Clay was looking all sorts of uncomfortable as he rubbed his neck in a blatant expression of 'oh boy this is awkward.'

"Um. So… Sunny told me about your meeting with Stonemover. Sorry I wasn't there but I am glad things went well." It was obvious he was grasping for straws here. It was painful to watch but Flame sat quietly and listened like the good boyfriend he was. "Umber also told me you two were dating. That's… _nice_." Again, the forced politeness was excruciating and Flame was beginning to wonder if Sunny had made him a script or something. "And I'm glad to see you're not such – what I mean is I'm glad you've gotten better, heh."

Now…anger management had never been Flame's forte. Mind you, he was doing a lot better than he had been over a year ago. His last big melt down had been several months ago when some dung-breathed fart brains had thought it a good idea to comment on his scar. Some words had been exchanged…and then some fists. His scar was still one of those sore spots of his; he hated when people looked at him like a freak. He also hated when people were fake with him. Nice to his face while sneering at his back.

Flame knew Clay was probably incapable of sneering, he was just too dumbly nice, even if it was FAKE niceness. Usually this kind of thing would annoy the crap out of him, but this time, for some weird reason, Flame found it all pretty…hilarious. Maybe it was the ridiculous faces Clay was making as he talked, or the image of Sunny trying to coach him through this syrupy speech. Whatever the reasons, giggles began to slip from between his teeth. He tried to cover them but it was pretty hard with everyone staring at him.

"Did…I say something funny?" Clay's wary voice fell through Flame's wheezes.

"Sorry, sorry." Flame flicked his tail at him. "It's just…I've never seen someone pretend to be that nice while looking so miserable. It was enough to make me wanna barf."

Clay's ears and shoulders dropped. "Gosh, sorry. I was hoping it wouldn't sound as awkward as it did on paper."

Flame liked this. At least they weren't trying to deny it had been fake.

"Look," Flame began, wanting to clear the air between them, "I was a massive jerk before. It's OK to say so, and I'm sorry for it. If there was anything I did in the past that made you upset or uncomfortable, from the bottom of my heart, I regret it." With all this 'turning over a new leaf' stuff Flame had gotten rather good at apologizing. He had a lot to be sorry for so he might as well start dealing with it. And he was glad he did. Clay visibly relaxed and Marsh released a loud breath that whistled with held in tension.

Slowly their strained expression became true smiles and Clay clapped in on the back, nearly sending Flame flying across the gardens. "Hey, don't worry about it. We all make mistakes, I'm just glad you're here getting the help you need," the massive MudWing said in earnest.

Umber rested his head on Flame's shoulders; his features soften with loving adoration. "We're all very proud of him."

Flame, completely unprepared for such a gaze, turned red as boiled beets. "Well anyway," his voice crackled like paper, "aren't there supposed to be more MudWings showing up? It's freezing out here, what's taking them so long?"

His fleeting desperation to distract himself from the sappy situation turned out to work as, much to his dismay, someone other than the six dragons present answered him.

"Here! We're here!"

In the distance a voice appeared. At first everyone looked to the sky, assuming that was where they would arrive from, but it was a shock when two MudWings came barreling across the sodden garden, waving their wings and smiles like flags. One was male and only barely smaller that Clay, and therefore the second largest MudWing present. The other was female and, although somewhat smaller, had the musculature that said 'call me small, I dare ya'.

Flame was not going to take her up on that dare.

A cry of joy came from Sora and she ran to the oncoming dragons. Suddenly there was chaos as the sibs gathered into a bundle; hugging and laughter abound. Everyone was talking all at once to the point that Flame could hardly hear himself think. He only had one brother and found _that_ to be a talon full. He paled thinking what having five siblings would be like.

"Sorry we're late," he heard the new male say within the cacophony of welcomes. His voice was deep, way deeper than Umber's, but with a heavy richness like cream. "We landed on the wrong side of the center ha…thankfully some helpful dragons pointed us here."

With the group no longer paying him any attention Flame took this moment collect his thoughts. He closed his eyes and focused.

 _Don't freak out, Flame. You got this. You studied all their names and Umber is going to be super impressed. OK so there's Clay, easy, and uuuhh that other one from Jade Academy, Marsh. Right. Then there's those other two… come on Flame you KNOW this! The big-wings – his name was…Red? NO. Reed. YES! And the other one is…is…_

"So _you're_ Flame," a raucous voice, unimpressed and even a smidge accusatory, spoke and shook down Flame's train of thought. He opened his eyes and then had to tilt his head up to look at the looming MudWing before him. _Pheasant,_ he remembered with a gulp, _her name is Pheasant._

The MudWing's eyes became dubious slivers and she turned them upon Jet next, "So that must make you Jet," she said in the same unenthused drawl.

"Hello! Yes!" Jet responded in the same tone she used for her tours. She was almost Pheasant's height, something the MudWing was none too pleased about. Jet stuck out a talon to shake. "It's so great to finally be meeting Sora's family! How was the flight over?"

Pheasant snorted and ignored Jet's greeting. "So you two think you're good enough to date our sibs, huh?"

It took Flame a moment to comprehend what was being insinuated. Once it hit him, the gall of such a question slapped in the face and he reeled, fire singing the roof of his mouth. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

It wasn't some mystery; Flame knew very well what she had meant. It was the same message he received through the looks Umber's friends gave him back at Jade Mountain, the same thing on everyone's mind when they saw him, ugly and vile, with someone as incredible as Umber.

 _You don't deserve him._

"Flame, _don't_ ," Jet hissed out from the side of her mouth. Everything from her bugling eyes to the nervous tangle of her tail was a giant warning flag for him to step back and cool down. Luckily Flame thought she was super annoying and had no intention of listening to her. He stepped up, his previous nervousness burned to char.

"No no, I want to hear what she has to say. You have a problem with me dating your brother?"

An alarmed 'uh oh' came from the clearing behind them. Seconds later Umber, Sora, and Reed were right in the middle of things.

"Whoa hey, what's going on here?" Umber asked, trying to sound relaxed but the strain on his smile was so tight it looked painful. "Flame? Is everything alright?"

Umber's scolding tone didn't slip under Flame's notice. The SkyWing's tail lashed strips into the sodden soil. "Ask your sister. _She's_ the one with her snout out of joint."

On the other side of the argument Pheasant was knee deep in Reed's utter exasperation. "Pheasant, we talked about this. You promised you wouldn't try to intimidate them!"

"I'm not! It was just a simple question." Her voice thrummed with unapologetic righteousness but she refused to look at Reed's face. "I am just a bit hesitant to have someone like him," she regarded Flame with eyes like poisoned claws, "to be dating Umber."

Before Flame could spit out some unsavory words Umber was on his defense. "Pheasant! How could you say that? Flame is the most wonderful, loving, and amazing dragon ever." He twisted their tails together and Flame's heart swelled and smothered the growing fire in his belly. Umber made everything better.

Too bad his sister was nothing like him. She rolled her eyes and snorted. "Oh sure, but that's not what I've heard from others."

A spear of ice shot through Flame's stomach to embed itself in the back of his spine. Why? _Why_ did his past have to keep catching up with him? He curled his tail tightly around Umber's, trying not to let his voice tremor, "And what have you heard?"

"Oh you know," she shrugged and inspected her talons. "Just what Marsh told me about what you were like at the Academy and what you did to Stonemover."

"Whoa whoa whoa hang on," Marsh said with his talons up and out like he was bracing for impact. Sometime during the argument he and Clay had joined off to the side, but by the way his wings and tail bunched together it was obvious he had preferred it that way. "That was like eight months ago, and I was only telling you what Coconut told me, and HE had heard it first from Kinkajou like a year before that so I really don't think that's fair."

"Marsh is right, I think you're being a bit harsh," Clay spoke up – _hold on_ – Flame did a double take. Was _Clay_ actually defending him? Flame almost slapped himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. The insanity continued as Clay said even MORE nice things about him, "He's really a different dragon now! I know before he was a bit of a … well what I mean is he was…um…"

"An eel-faced jerk?" Jet helpfully supplied with a bright smile. "A frog eating ninny? A buffalo-headed arugula-smelling son-of-a – "

"OK JET THANK YOU!" Sora blurted and shoved Jet's face away before she could say anything else, which was probably for the best since Pheasant had bust a gut from laughing so hard and Flame was already grinding his teeth to dust.

Although he had to admit those had been some pretty good insults.

"Heh, yeah, those things," Clay mumbled through a few clattering chuckles. "I say give him a chance."

"Yeah!" Umber echoed.

"I agree with Clay," Sora chimed in with the heel of her talon still pressed against Jet's face. "I'll vouch for his character if it means we can move on and get this visit started."

"That's a great idea, Sora," Reed spoke up with an excited wiggle of his ears, eager to leave this tense bickering behind. "I think we're all maybe a bit _tired_ and _cranky_ from the long flight, _right_ Pheasant?" With each emphasized word he projected his voice at the cantankerous MudWing. She pursed her lips but at length her hackles dropped.

"Fine. I'll leave him alone…for now." She shook her wings out, casting a smile over Flame's head as she look at her sibs. "Besides, we got more important things to do."

"Like what?" Marsh put forward and the answers began pouring out in a giant mess. Clay suggested going for lunch of course, Sora mentioned something about the library, and Jet offered to take them on a tour of the place. With his wary anger still honed in on Pheasant Flame spied her and Reed exchange excited grins. The chattering continued a while longer before Reed cleared his throat and the group fell silent.

"While flying over, Pheasant and I were just talking about how long it's been since we were all together, or, well, together and NOT fighting in a war, and we were thinking about this game we used to play when we were little." The excitement rising in his voice stirred the group. They leaned forward on this string of promised memories. Reed did not disappoint. "Do you guys remember wingball?"

Everyone but Flame and Clay tossed their wings up with deafening roars:

"OH MY GOSH WINGBALL! HOW COULD I FORGET?"

"Yes! A thousand times yes, we NEED to play that!"

"We even have enough for two teams!"

Even Jet was among them; her enormous wings clapping against her sides. "This is so awesome, I've never played MudWing-Wingball before! Only the SkyWing version."

Pheasant gave her a dubious though non-aggressive glance. "You play?"

Jet snorted and brushed off her shoulder. "Do I play? I'm only the best looper this side of the mountains! There isn't a walby on this continent I can't defend."

Flame and Clay sat there with blank expressions until the former dragonet of destiny uttered out, "Uhhhhh say _what_?" The group burst out laughing although Flame agreed with Clay. _Say what?_

"Don't worry, it's not hard to learn," Marsh comforted his larger brother while Pheasant gave him an affectionate shove.

"We'll go easy on ya…maybe." She winked.

"Do you want to play with us, Flame?"

Flame had been so occupied trying to figure out what the hell Jet had been talking about that he had zoned out. Now Umber was looking up at him, his gorgeous feature lit from within. If Flame could have put that face in the sky instead of the sun he would have, but, as it was, Flame was still confused about the whole thing. "I – I don't know, Umber… I don't really know how to play."

"It's probably for the best that you sit out." Uninvited and unwanted, Pheasant joined their conversation. "It's a pretty rough game. Someone as scrawny as you would probably snap like a twig."

"Pheasant," Umber hissed. "Be nice."

Just the sight her prim smile turned Flame's vision red. "I'm plenty tough!"

"Says the dragon with the pink knitted scarf."

"Hey, my MOTHER made this for me!"

The brown female rolled her eyes. " _MudWing's_ don't need parents. We take care of ourselves…not like a SkyWing would know anything about that, what with being coddled by their parents all their lives."

"Pheasant!" Umber looked at his sister in shock. Meanwhile Flame could only be towed along as the wave of rage pulled him under.

The whole earth and air around him began to sway and he knew what was coming next. Sparks seared the back of his eyes and he couldn't stop himself. "Well at least I know what a mother's love is like you snobby goat-breathed mud licker!" The words dropped from his tongue like lead. He slammed his mouth shut, trying desperately to pick up the words and put them back, but it was too late.

"FLAME!" Umber cried, his face furious.

Anger receded to regret. "That was – I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that – I was just – I – "

To his surprise Pheasant smirked…but not from amusement. Cruel and triumphant her teeth twinkled like a polished dagger. It only lasted the length of a viper's strike before vanishing to somber pain. She curled her lips back and turned to Umber. "Nice boyfriend. Just keep him away from me," she growled before shooting back towards the group of sibs. Reed gave her a curious glance but the others were distracted, they seemed to be getting ready to fly somewhere.

"Come on, Umber," Marsh called. "Reed saw the perfect place to play when he was flying over. We're going there now!"

"I'll meet up with you in a minute!" Umber gave them a wave as they departed. Even from the air Flame could see the glowing victory spread on Pheasant's face like moonlight on water. It turned his heart into a blood boiling cauldron. It was only Umber's expression that kept him from going up there and pummelling her to the ground.

The small dragon still had a very not happy look on his face. Flame's stomached knotted into a ball of snakes. Normally when it was just the two of them alone the world would shimmer and smile on them and Flame would feel he was home no matter where he was.

It wasn't like that now.

The sky was even grayer than before, the cold sharper. The empty garden felt too wide and the air too thin. A moment of silence passed, then another, then another. Moment by moment, brick by brick, a wall of dreadful quiet gathered upon their backs.

"You really hurt Pheasant's feelings you know," Umber finally whispered.

Flame stifled a gasp, feeling as though he had been struck across the face. Was Umber _actually_ taking Pheasant's side? A hundred excuses and rebuttals jumped in in mouth, banging to be let out: She had started it. She had made it personal when she brought up his past. _She_ was the one that wouldn't leave him alone.

Right?

Or had it been his fault? Starf had always told him to be careful to not blame others when it was his own temper that brought ruin. Was Umber right to be mad at him? Was this just something else Flame had fucked up?

But then he remembered that look on Pheasant's face before she flew off, the victory in her gleaming eyes.

No. She had been _trying_ to make him mad. She had wanted him and Umber to fight. She wanted him out of the picture.

Well, that bitch had another thing coming. He wasn't going to play her little game.

He was about to tell Umber as much but his voice was gauged from his throat before he had the chance. Umber just looked so…miserable. He had his wings pulled in tight as if chilled, his eyes watery. Flame reached a warming wing towards him but the smaller dragon leaned away, refusing to look at him.

To see such disappointment on Umber's face, it took everything out of him.

"Look, I know Pheasant was being mean and – and – I should have warned you that she can get like that, but, for my sake, I was hoping you wouldn't – I guess I – look," Umber sighed with his entire body, "maybe…maybe it would be for the best if you didn't come play with us. I don't want you and Pheasant fighting anymore."

The ice spear that had been embedded in his spine jumped up to skewer his heart. "You…want me to leave?"

Umber's talons dug into the mud as if he wished he could drown himself in it. "I – think it would be for the best. You and Pheasant aren't good together and I don't want you guys to hurt each other."

 _This is bullshit! She started it! Why can't Umber see that?_ Then Flame thought of something that made his heart shrivel. _...or is he just taking her side anyway?_

 _Would he really choose his sib over me, even if they were the one in the wrong?_

Umber gave a speedy glance over his shoulder in the direction his sibs had gone. "I should catch up with them now. I… I'll see you later, OK?" He leaned up and gave Flame's cheek a quick kiss, but it felt more out of habit than from any source of affection. This time it wasn't cute.

Flame watched Umber's form shrink into the sky feeling like his insides had been ripped by an IceWing's jagged talon.

To be continued...

* * *

Author's Note:

I feel like this could be a lot better but I have already spent so much time on it. I hope you all enjoy nonetheless and are having a wonderful holiday season :D


	2. Chapter 2

Umber hated fighting.

He hated disagreements and confrontations of all sorts. Within his sibs he was usually the one to even out the tides of opposition when it came to arguments, and never ONCE had he chosen a side and joined the fray. His place was in the middle, making sure both debaters had their voice heard and that everyone left as friends, even if it meant holding back his own opinions. That was always how things had been…

…until today when he had been the absolute worst boyfriend ever and told Flame to leave. Umber had regretted it instantly and he hadn't even made it to the playing field before he had turned around to apologize to Flame, but the red dragon had already left.

 _Stupid Umber! Stupid stupid stupid stupid!_

Every time he thought about it his stomach soured and his guts became anxious, guilty knots. He wanted to go find Flame this instant and talk to him, and if he couldn't do that then he wanted to wack his head against a tree until he was no longer stupid.

"Hey, Umber! Did you want to play side field or – Umber?" the small voice of his brother Marsh found him. "Are you OK?"

Umber lifted his head from where it was buried beneath his wings. While his sibs and Jet prepared the playing field Umber had retreated to the side to mope but it appeared he wouldn't be able to hide forever. Not that he WANTED to hide forever, he wanted to be with his sibs…but he also felt terrible and wanted to die…but this was supposed to be a fun reunion AARRG where had it all gone wrong?!

"Do you think it was mean of me to send Flame away?" Umber blurted out. If there was one good thing about this mess it was that he at least had his sibs to talk to. There were no secrets between them.

Marsh bit his lip, his wings askew behind him as he sat. "Um…I…I don't think I'm the best person to ask but," he shrugged, "maybe it would for the best. Pheasant told me he was being a jerk."

Umber bristled. "But Pheasant was being just as rude!"

Marsh twitched his ears in that classic way that indicated he was uncomfortable. He stole a glance over his shoulder and Umber followed his gaze to where Pheasant was situated in the center of a muddy meadow some ten meters away. The grass was withered and flattened down from the frost leaving a perfectly flat arena for their game. Using tails and claws Reed and Clay carved out the boundaries of the field as Pheasant directed them.

His brother twisted back around to give Umber a nervous look. "You know how Pheasant can be. She just wants what's best for us." Marsh didn't sound very convicted or convincing as he spoke.

Umber winkled his snout. "Was she like this when you introduced her to Coconut?"

"A little, although I didn't have to separate them. She seemed OK with him after a bit." A big sigh wooshed out of Marsh's snout. "I'm sorry, Umber, but Pheasant's just as much of a mystery to me as she is to you. Maybe we can talk to her about it later." Marsh stood and pumped his wings several times. "You still up to play?"

Umber nodded and lied through his teeth by saying, "Of course!" but when Marsh gave dry him a look he knew he had been caught in the act. Marsh knew him too well.

"Don't you dare give me that fake enthusiasm, _mister_!" Marsh gave him a playful cuff over the ears and Umber bit back a smile. Why did Marsh have to be so good and making him happy?

"Well, I _do_ want to play," Umber stated, "but you'll have to forgive me if I excuse myself mid-game to die."

The larger dragon rolled his eyes but he was smiling. "Don't be so dramatic. Couples fight all the time, it's completely normal. If Flame is as great as you say he is then he'll come around."

Umber groaned. He knew Flame would come around but that wasn't what he was worried about. He felt so bad he wanted to vomit. How was he supposed to enjoy the day with his sibs when he had this thundercloud in his heart? As if to give further insult to injury, a shower of sunlight began to break through the dense clouds as if it had the right to bring joy to the world. Couldn't it see Umber was despairing? A sympathetic rain shower would have been more appreciated.

Marsh, however, spread his wings wide as the golden air touched his scales. "Aaaah, that's better. See? The sky wants you to be happy!" Umber pouted and shrugged an 'I guess so' with his wings. Marsh gave him a heavy lidded glare. "Alright, I see how is gonna be." He stood and stretched his neck out. "I didn't want to have to resort to this but I see no other choice."

"What do you mean – AAAAAAH!" Umber could only wiggle in defeat as Marsh belly-flopped on top of him. He squished Umber's face between his talons and shaped it like dough into a smile.

"Theeeere we go! Finally I get to see you smile."

Umber really didn't want to laugh. He wouldn't. He refused to. He didn't deserve joy.

All this made it even more frustrating when he burst out laughing. "Fine! You win! Get off me you smelly lump of scales!"

Marsh complied with triumph. "That's what you get for trying to be sad around your sib." He winked. Despite it all Umber did feel a little better. He was still mad at himself but it was hard to be completely depressed with your sibs nearby. Marsh gave him a nudge. "Now come on! Let's join the others."

Umber nodded absently. He was feeling a little better about his situation with Flame, Marsh was right; it wasn't the end of the world if they had a fight, but there was still something bothering him. One thing he had made note of that kept coming back to his attention. Keeping his voice low he pulled on Marsh's arm to get him to slow down and murmured, "I just want to know…earlier Pheasant said you were the one that told her all that stuff about Flame. Why?"

Umber had never known Marsh to be a gossip. It was just so unlike him to go around giving out information about people he barely knew.

Marsh sighed and came to a stop, his talons sinking into the sodden soil. "Because she asked me about him."

"She did?"

"Well he's your boyfriend and she's your sister," Marsh said with a sniff and a shrug. "It makes sense she would be curious about him."

"I…suppose." Umber's mind still itched but he figured he should drop it for now; the most pressing reason being Pheasant was galloping towards them.

"Thought you could sneak away, eh?" The sunlight swirled in her light brown eyes like drifting sparks from a cozy fire. "WELL GUESS AGAIN! HA!" Without warning she swung a wing around Umber and Marsh and they had no choice but to be pulled inwards. She gave them a tight squeeze, lifting them off the ground before dropping them like lumps of mud. To anyone else it might seem like rough play, but for MudWings this was nothing. Throwing each other ground, squashing each other, tackling them to the ground…that was gentle play.

In fact, despite his conflicting feelings, Umber began to chuckle and snort alongside Marsh. A part of him was mad at Pheasant for the role she had played in upsetting Flame, but it was work to stay upset. She was his sister. Every time he heard her laugh or breathed in her scent he felt calm and relaxed, as he did with his other sibs. If anything he was just getting frustrated with himself for not knowing what to feel.

With a string of her own laughter abound Pheasant reached down and helped them to their feet. She gave Umber a nuzzle to the head before pushing them along. "Alright get your tails in gear! The games about to start and I want you two on my team!"

"Who's the other team?" Marsh asked, visibly excited.

"Reed, Clay, and Sora," their sister answered with a growing smirk. "Clay may not know how to play but he's the biggest so that'll definitely be an advantage for their team. Reed and Sora are fairly large too, but we have speed," she slapped Marsh on the back, "and agility," at this she gave Umber an affectionate jostle.

Umber masked a frown. "What about Jet? Is she playing?"

Pheasant's tail gave a harsh flick that nearly distracted Umber from the quick curl of her lips. "She's refereeing." Umber didn't like that tone at all. He was on the brink of commenting on it when the moment was lost by Clay coming to greet them at the center of the field.

"Hey guys! Ready to play?" He seemed tense but his eyes were bright with glee. "I've never played before, heh, but I told you that already. Are you guys nervous too? Probably not. I hope I don't mess things up for my team."

Umber hated seeing Clay so nervous. He sidled up to his larger brother just below the wing. "You won't mess anything up, Clay." He wound their tails together and grinned. "Besides, we're all a little rusty. We haven't played in years."

"Yeah," Marsh agreed with mild embarrassment colouring his cheeks, "I'm not sure I even remember what a walby is!"

"Well you better relearn," Pheasant gave her sib a clip on the ear with her tail, "because _you're_ the one that'll be guarding it!"

"I am?" He looked completely astounded. "Oh croc-spit! W-what is it again?"

"Oh I know that one!" Clay's own surprise at himself outweighed his sibs'. "Reed said it was the invisible line before the goal post, right?"

"Indeedily-do," Pheasant approved. "Ten meters up and five meters wide. In the air or on the ground, you can't let the enemy get past, got it?"

Marsh slowly nodded. "Yeah…I think it's starting to come back to me now."

She gave his ear a playful tug and said, "I knew it would. Umber, you know your role, right?"

"Yeah yeah, don't worry I do." Umber's role was the courier. With such a small teams his role would be easy; all he had to do was be ready to receive the ball from Pheasant and pass it back to her when she was ready to score. And also not to be smashed into the ground by the other team's courier.

Pheasant rubbed her talons together in anticipation. "Excellent. Shall we get to our position?"

"Sure," Clay agreed but paused for a moment. He looked left, then right, then all around. "Hey wait a minute, where's Flame?"

Umber winced, all those awful feelings rushing back, and Pheasant visibly stiffened.

"Oh, uh, well he – um – he's – "

"Who cares?" Pheasant interrupted Umber with a toss of her lumbering head. She ran her talons over the crest of her head and sniffed with displeasure. "It's not like he'll be missed."

" _I_ care, actually," Umber snapped in tones so cold it chased away the sun. Pheasant's words had rubbed him the wrong way. His stomach churned like an angry sea and heat began to flush across his face. "And I miss him." Again the guilt hit him in thunderous strokes of lightening that made his heart weak. His wings fell limp to his side. "I should have never told him to leave."

Coiling his tail Umber glanced at his sibs apologetically, coming to a decision. "I'm sorry guys but…I need to go find him. I need to make sure he's OK and…talk to him about something." Now a whole new guilt sat in his stomach. "I…I know you guys came so far to see me but I just….I have to do this…"

The first reassuring wing to reach him was Clay. "Go for it," the largest sib began, "I completely understand; dating cranky, crazy SkyWings is something I know waaaay too much about. The sooner you can talk things through the better."

"We won't wait up," Marsh said with a saucy wink that made Umber want to swat him.

"I don't know what you could possibly mean by THAT but I'll be back as soon as I can. Jet can take my place!" He spread his wings to take off but Pheasant appeared before him, all angry eye-brows and frowny mouthed.

"You can't be serious right now. Please tell me you're joking."

Umber was thrown. "I'm…sorry?"

Pheasant ranked her claws through the wet dirt and sat down with a prompt growl. The dappled patches of rusted gold along her shoulders and wings swayed in the sun. "Umber," she started, "you're really going to leave your sibs for some _SkyWing_? We've been planning this reunion for MONTHS…don't you care?"

"Of course I care!" Umber couldn't believe Pheasant would ask him such a thing, but lingering on his horns was the way she had called Flame a SkyWing like it was a dirty word. His feelings jumbled and jump behind his eyes like an army of disorganized frogs all trying to catch the same fly. He shook his head and pushed past Pheasant. "But I love Flame and I really hurt his feelings, I need to talk to him." He didn't bother mentioning right now how Pheasant should be apologizing as well. That probably wouldn't go over well.

"Fine," Pheasant snapped, her voice fraying like silk, "I see how it is. You love that SkyWing more than your own sibs!"

Umber stopped in his tracks and he heard Marsh gasp behind him. He whirled around. "I – I never said that!"

Pheasant glowered at him as though he had skewered her with a sword. "There was no need. This entire time _he's_ all you've been thinking about."

"Well YEAH! It's _our_ fault he's upset. What am I supposed to do, ignore him?"

"YES!"

Umber drew in a shaking breath to calm the trembling in his talons. The pancakes he had had this morning were threatening to make an appearance all over the ground. He HATED fighting. It was like his insides were full of writhing worms and wriggling centipedes and just that image alone brought on another wave of nausea. Why didn't Pheasant understand that he could love Flame AND his sibs! "Pheasant…what's your problem? Why do you hate Flame so much?"

She didn't answer, at least not right away. The dragoness turned her head to glance back and Marsh and Clay with the same accusatory glint. The males stood frozen as if turned to stone. "Have any of you thought about the consequences of taking on partners?" She spoke to all of them now, her head rearing this way and that to keep them all in view. "We're _MudWings_ ; we might be able to separate for a while but we _need_ each other. We're sibs! What's going to happen when it's time to come home, hm? Will your _partners_ want come back with you to the Mud Kingdom?" She snorted. "I doubt it."

Umber opened his mouth then closed it with a snap. He…hadn't thought about that. When he imagined the future he saw both Flame and his family. In fact he saw a lot of things. He saw himself back at Jade Academy studying alongside his friends, he saw him and Flame prowling the SkyWing night markets for food stalls as they did every weekend before going into a food coma and cuddling, and he saw himself wrestling with his sibs on sunny afternoons and sleeping together in big piles, breathing in the air rich with earth-scent and breathing dragons.

He had thought of them all as the same future but he had never stopped to think _how_ they could all be in the same future. A snake of ice slithered its way into the throng of slimy critters already in his organs.

"You're gonna have to make a choice eventually, Umber," Pheasant said, her tones deepened with a sudden soft sympathy. "I'm just trying to make things easier for you."

Umber's felt his heart begin to splinter and hiss apart like a rotten tree struck with lightening. He didn't _want_ to choose between them. Why should he? He loved Flame. He loved his sibs. Why did it have to be one or the other?

"Well if that isn't the biggest load of shit I've ever heard in my life than I don't know what is," a voice ragged from the sky. Moments later the lithe figure of Flame settled to the ground and Umber had never been happier in his life to see that ugly vest. The SkyWing smirked in Pheasant's direction. "It's gonna take a helluva lot more than a little argument to keep me away."

All worries and anger flew from Umber's mind; the only thing that mattered in that moment was the red dragon before him. He flung himself at Flame who barely had time to catch. "Flame, I'm so so so so so so sorry!" he sobbed, burying his face into the other's chest. The woolly fabric snagged on his talons but he clutched the garment fiercely. "I didn't mean to get mad at you it's just – I hated seeing you two fight but I felt so bad afterwards – can you forgive me I'm so sorry!"

"Umber! It's OK." Flame wrapped his wings around them and suddenly it was like being in a cocoon of warmth and silk; a pocket away from reality, free of all its tangles and pains. Here Umber was safe. He melted into Flame's scales as the SkyWing reached down to plant a kiss on his crest. "Don't tell me those tears are for me!"

Umber didn't know what Flame was talking about until he brought a talon along his cheek and felt the warm dampness of a sneaky tear. Before he could even blush the SkyWing cupped Umber's face and pressed their foreheads together. "Seriously, I'm nothin' to cry over."

Oh how very wrong he was, but Umber's protests dissolved on his tongue when Flame bent down to his ear. "And I'm not going anywhere. No matter where you go, be it the Mud Kingdom, Ice Kingdom, even that new continent – Pant-something or other – I'd follow you anywhere. Always." He smiled and then paused nervously. "I – uh – hope that sounded romantic and not stalker-y."

The anxiety bubbling in Umber's stomach flattened and the tightness in his chest relaxed. He took in a smooth breath filled with Flame's scent. "It sounded perfect."

"WHOA HEY BREAK IT UP YOU TWO!"

Thick claws pulled Flame's wings aside and the real world – and Pheasant's angry scowl – came crashing into their haven. She snatched Umber by the wings and pulled him off the SkyWing.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Umber struggled against his sister but being half her size made it a little difficult. She finally set him down a good several feet from his boyfriend.

"Didn't you listen to anything I just said?" She sent a quick dirty look over her shoulder at Flame. "He doesn't _belong_ with us."

"I belong wherever Umber is!" Flame stated and strutted over. A growled picked up in Pheasant's throat but he ignored it. "If you don't like it then kiss my ass."

"HEEEY!" a voice bellowed from afar, making the distangled group of arguers and awkward by-standers perk up. "Are we playing or what?" It was Reed. He, Sora, and Jet were quickly walking towards them and Umber felt at ease. Reed would know how to fix this; he was the best problem solver Umber knew.

"Is everything alright over here?" Sora, as usual, was the first to offer her worry and concern.

"Yeah," Jet said, "we heard some cussing" – she shot Flame a look – "so we figured something interesting was going on."

Umber went to speak up, to tell _them_ to tell _Pheasant_ that she was being ridiculous and absurd but the larger female spoke before he could get a word in. "Don't worry about a thing, we're fine," she addressed Reed and Sora. "Flame and I were just having a… _heated_ discussion but he was just leaving now so – "

"No I wasn't!" Flame flapped his wings to herald his entrance as he barreled into the small cluster of conversing MudWings. Umber noticed how he managed to sneakily slap Pheasant in the face with his wing and pull it off as an accident. "I'm not going anywhere! In fact…" He smirked most deviously, chest puffed out, "I'm gonna play wing-ball with you guys."

* * *

Author's Note:

Yeaaaah so, like Umber, I'm a big baby when it comes to conflict so of course I had to have him and Flame make up in the next chapter ;P Hope you enjoy and the next chapter is on its way soon hopefully!


	3. Chapter 3

"I hope you know what you're doing," Umber hissed at him from the sidelines. Flame shrugged, faking confidence he didn't have, before putting on the leather-clad helmet he had been given and taking off his gloves.

Everyone, all six MudWings and the two SkyWings, were gathered in the thrown-together playing field, preparing. Jet had managed to scrounge up some safety equipment that neither matched nor was built for the sport. Also Flame was the only one wearing any. He had at first refused (it was hard to look tough and cool with a melon on your head) but Umber had insisted. So here he was, Flame the melon-head.

"Of course I know what I'm doing," Flame lied, pathetically trying to figure out how to strap the damn thing on his head before Umber sighed and did it for him. Flame smiled his thanks and Umber returned it with an affectionate roll of his eyes.

It was good to not be fighting anymore.

After their argument Flame had went for a fly to clear his head and heart. He had originally intended to wait until Pheasant was gone before finding Umber, but as he circled the Healing Center over and over his anger had only matured.

Like hell he was going to let that bitch get in the way.

And so, filled to the brim with pettiness, he decided to swoop down and join this dumb game. He had no idea how to play, and was probably going to die, but the look on Pheasant's face when he had said he was playing would make it all worth it in the end.

Assuming Pheasant didn't kill him by the end of it.

"Besides, I thought you'd be happy about this. Didn't you want me to play?" Flame asked while removing his vest. The air had warmed since this morning, thankfully, and he had already worked up some heat flying around. Umber begrudgingly nodded, picking up the vest from where Flame had tossed it on the ground and folded it.

"Yeaaaaaaah," he admitted, "but that was this morning before everything fell apart. She's…not going to go easy on you, you know."

Flame gave back an 'I'm too cool to care' shrug while he quieted a gulp. Once Flame had decided to play Umber's _nice_ sib, Reed, had offered Flame a spot on his team (Pheasant certainly wasn't going to). He had made the case that, even though their team was larger, two of those members had never played before so it wasn't going to be much of an advantage. If anything it was probably going to be a disadvantage.

Pheasant, of course, had still made a stink about it but Jet, the apparent over-seer for this shit show, had decreed it acceptable so that was the end of that.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Hey, melon-head!" Jet called as she approached, startling Flame into dropping his elbow-pads. "Players are getting into position. Get your tail out there! You too, Umber."

Flame's heart leapt up his throat but he swallowed it down. "Y…yeah, OK." Hastily he fastened the rest of his gear and took a breath. Whew. OK. This was happening.

Umber touched their snouts together quickly. "Good luck!" he cheered before vanishing and Flame slowly made his way to the other side of the field, talons heavy on fried nerves. To his surprise, Clay fell in beside him.

"Nervous?" the MudWing asked, his face a miasma of agitation and jitters.

Flame checked around to make sure no one was in ear shot before leaning in and murmuring, "Very."

"Heh, same." Clay rolled his shoulders, working the movement down towards his wings in circular motions. "I just hope I do a good job, ya know? I don't want to disappoint my sibs."

 _And I don't want to be squashed like a bug,_ Flame silently fretted. His organs and bones winced at the thought of Pheasant's hefty body slamming into his with the force of a supernova. He imagined himself dying in Umber's arms, the small dragon crying as Flame gave his dying wish of being buried with his graphicoll collection. Then, dramatically, he would close his eyes and Umber would shout a curse to the sky and promise to avenge him.

Also there would be lots of explosions and Pheasant would get punched somewhere in there.

It was the friendly face of Reed that released him from this daydreams. The large MudWing ambled up to meet the two approaching dragons, his eyes warm rings of amber and gold. Despite himself Flame couldn't help but to get caught in their glowing haze; they were just so much like Umber's.

"Welcome to the team, Flame," he greeted a little shyly. "So…I realize now I proooobably should give you a run-down on what exactly is going on here."

"If it's not too much trouble," Flame replied with more tartness than he meant. His anxiety was slipping through. Reed didn't seem to notice, or didn't react to it at least. Instead he clapped Flame on the back and nearly sent the SkyWing reeling into the ground.

"Of course! So, you and Clay are both going to play support. All you have to do is flank me and be open to catching the ball and tossing it back to me. Got it?"

"Oh!" Flame perked. "OK, well that doesn't seem too bad – "

"While also not being body-slammed by the other team's members," Sora piped up.

"Hm. Oh." His short lived enthusiasm withered. Guess he was gonna die after all.

"Alright players," Jet cheerfully called, swooping above the field with a leather-skin ball in talon, "get into position!" Somewhere along the line she had also managed to snatch a bone-whittled whistle and Flame was really wondering where she got all this shit.

"Here we go! This is happening! AAAH!" Clay took a few deep breaths and Sora touched their wings together in a comforting gesture.

"You'll do great. Both of you will." She gave Flame two encouraging thumbs up and Flame mentally promised to make her a batch of cookies for being so nice.

"We'll _all_ do great," Reed assured. He put his talon out before him, motioning for the others to do the same until their talons were stacked one on top of the other. "On the count of three: one – two – three – "

"GO TEAM ROCK-SLIDE!" they shouted together and split apart.

Clay went to the position Reed pointed to that was somewhere to the right side of the field while Sora flew to the rear. Flame was given the left side and solemnly marched over to take his place. He glanced at his team-mates from the corner of his eye, mimicking their postures while simultaneously scanning the other side for Umber.

The small MudWing had taken position on the opposite side, across from Clay. A pang of disappointment that Umber was so far away hitched his chest, but it was nothing compared to the crushing dread that swallowed him as he saw Pheasant make her way to his side of the field. When she saw who she'd be up against a moment of surprised rinsed over her face before cold annoyance.

The two locked eyes as the MudWing took her stance in front of him, neither willing to be the first to look away.

"You really shouldn't have come back," she muttered, crouching before him on the other side of the line. "You don't belong with us, _or_ with Umber."

Burning bile rose in his throat but he forced it down and snarled out a, "Go tell someone who gives a shit."

A shrill whistle pierced his eardrums and from the corner of his eye he saw Jet drop the ball. Ignoring Pheasant he clenched his teeth and focused. _OK. You got this, Flame. It's not about winning or losing, it's about proving that I can handle whatever these MudWings can throw at me. I will not surrender. No matter what happens I will not yield to –_

These thoughts were cut short as a boulder came in hard from the left and slammed into his ribcage. Flame crumpled to the ground, breath evacuating his lungs through a violent wheeze that was more rattle-y than what was probably healthy. Black dots swarmed his vision. He laid on his back, coughing air back into his unwilling lungs as the Pheasant-boulder stood over him.

Jet's whistled cried out and everyone stopped in their place. "Foul on the left field!" she announced. Pheasant glared up at her.

"Foul? What for?"

"For crushing Flame!" Umber cried, appearing in the center of the field. In several urgent leaps the small MudWing reached Flame and pulled him up. Flame leaned against him, grateful, and slowly began to catch his breath. Umber glared at his sister. "You can't just tackle him for no reason!"

"I _had_ a reason!" she insisted. "It's a classic offensive opening!"

"Not according to the rules," Jet said as she settled to the ground. "While contact is not prohibited, Flame didn't even have the ball and he wasn't making any motion towards it…in fact I don't think the ball even touched the ground…anyway, it's a foul for unsportsman-like behaviour."

"That's the stupidest rule I've ever heard!" Pheasant snapped her wings against her sides like a whip. " _MudWings_ don't play like that."

The look Jet gave her was iron wrapped in ice. "Well," she simpered, "I only know SkyWing rules so that's the version we're playing. If you don't like it you're free to go." Unapologetic and stone-faced Jet bore a striking resemblance to her mother Zephyr at the moment. Flame was impressed to say the least. By the lashing of her tail, though, Pheasant was not but she dare not say a word.

"So what's the penalty for that?" Sora's willowy voice balanced along the strings of tension between her sister and lover.

"Other team gets first go at the ball," Jet decided promptly and tossed the ball to Reed. "Flame, are you still good to play?"

Concerned eyes fell on him from all directions (except Pheasant) and he tried to sit straight. The entire left side of his body was throbbing and with each breath he felt a pinch in his ribs. "I'm fine."

Warm talons brushed against his arm. "You sure?" Umber asked in a tone that indicated he didn't believe Flame for a second. The SkyWing gave a crooked smile.

"It's gonna take more than a few broken ribs to stop me." It had been meant as a joke but Umber's eyes flared with terrified concern. Flame quickly latched the tip of his tail to Umber's. "Really! I'm OK!"

"In that case," Jet began, summersaulting into the air, "everyone back in position. At my call the match starts again!" She paused. "Erm, well, actually maybe you should switched spots with Clay, Flame. Just because…well…you know." Without further explanation needed Flame gratefully swapped with Clay who gave him an encouraging smile as they passed.

It was an even bigger relief when he remembered who he would be facing against. Fizzy warmth spread along his scales as he took his position across from Umber, the two pretending to exchanges hostilities.

"You ready to get defeated, SkyWing?" Umber mock-growled. Crouched in his ready stance, Flame couldn't distract himself from the way the sunlight contoured over Umber's muscles and caught the golden flecks that dappled his shoulders.

"Yes – SHIT I MEAN NO. Crap I wasn't ready. Ask the question again."

"No backsies," Umber said in triumph and Flame really wanted to kiss that smug grin off his adorable face.

Before Flame could think of something lame to say back Jet blew the whistle and the game was on.

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit," Flame mumbled. His eyes rolled in every direction looking for the ball among the churning and grunting coalition of MudWings wrestling in the center. "WHAT DO I DO!?"

"Just stay back and be ready to catch," Umber offered through a quick whisper from the corner of his mouth, his eyes not once leaving the center of action. Flame nodded, following Umber's example.

 _OK just stay alert. Look for the ball. The ball is life. Be ready. Any moment it could come soaring your way._

"FLAME! CATCH!" a voice shouted and Flame looked just in time to see a round object being hurled towards him at an alarming speed. With frenzied panic Flame twisted his torso towards the projectile mere moments before it struck his chest dead center and his vision went dark. Seconds later the world reappeared and he was flat on his back, the vast blue above him like a song of soft clouds and birds.

He staggered to his feet and rubbed his chest with one talon, looking with confusion at the ball in his other. He did a double take. "OH MY MOONS I CAUGHT IT I ACTUALLY CAUGHT IT! Guys! Did you see that I – OH FUCK!"

Triumph turned terror as a herd of enormous MudWings were galloping his way; the earth shook as they stampeded towards him – towards the round orb in his talons. Flame did the most logical and immediate thing that came to his mind: he screamed and took to the air, nearly colliding with Jet during his escape. Second later the air was filled with more dragons, all chasing after him.

"AAAH WHAT DO I DO!?" He might have been the fastest flier of the bunch but his wings sputtered to keep this low to the ground while dodging incoming threats. In the back of his mind Flame realized he would have probably died instantly if he had ever had to fight in the war.

"FLAME! OVER HERE! I'M OPEN!" Fighting to be seen through the cloud of dragons was Clay, waving his arms frantically. Flame hastily took aim but just before he could throw a brown figure whizzed by and snatched the ball away. Flame's jaw swung open, aghast, when Umber blew him a smug kiss, the ball neatly tucked beneath his arm.

 _That handsome thief,_ he mused, more than a little impressed, but he would not be so easily foiled. With his nervousness gone, Flame decided it was time to show them what a _SkyWing_ could do. The muscles along his back and shoulder-blades contracted hard to bring heavy wings into a swooping upward arc. He paused like that, suspended in the air for a fraction of a second then felt the muscles of his chest twitch and spasm to push his wings into a powerful down stroke.

He shot through the air, the world at the fringes of his vision blurred from the speed and the wind toppled over his wings, unable to get out of the way fast enough. By now the ball had been passed to Pheasant; she was headed straight for Sora and their goal post. Flame gritted his teeth.

 _Not today, bitch._

Another powerful stroke of his wings caught him up with the others. He rolled to the side to avoid colliding with Jet as she hovered over the area like a judgemental angel of rules and regulations. Soon enough he had passed Clay who was meandering at the back, then Reed, and as he passed Umber he gave the little dragon a wing-check and a saucy wink.

Now it was only him and Pheasant. He didn't have the skills to swoop in and snatch the ball away, so he thought of the next best thing which wasn't really all that great to begin with but here he was doing so oh well. The SkyWing tucked his wings in tightly and dived, making his body as rigid as possible to brace for impact.

It felt like a feather hitting a mountain. Flame ricocheted off Pheasant, rolling several times on the hard, cold earth. Even with his wings tucked in he still felt every bump and stone and jolt as they passed over his body. Finally he came to a halt and wondered they the hell he had thought that would be a good idea. At least the plan had sort of worked. The force of his entire weight slamming into her had been enough to make her stumble at least. She faltered and was forced to drop her talons down to brace herself against the ground and the ball went tumbling from her grasp and into Sora's.

A whistle was blown and Jet landed among them. "We've got a double snake at the walby. Players reset at the quarter mark and someone go see if Flame is dead."

Flame tried to call out he was fine but only a weird gargling sound came out. Huh. That couldn't be good.

"Oh no, Flame!" Umber was at his side in an instant. "Flame…speak to me. Can you hear my voice? Don't go towards the light! Quick, someone get a doctor…"

"I'm not dying you baboon!" Flame sat up on his haunches and gave his wings a careful stretched to assess the damage. Bruised but usable. He would be fine…probably. "It was all part of my genius plan."

"More like suicidal," Reed spoke as he reached the two dragons. His tone was almost reprimanding, like an older brother scolding his reckless sibling, but his eyes held a glinting flicker of admiration as he help Flame to his feet. "It was awesome, though."

"And let me guess, there's no penalty for _that_?" Pheasant asked in all hues of contempt. Jet looked at her and shrugged.

"Well…no. It was a legal move so…"

Pheasant snorted, her tail lashing. "So when I do it it's a penalty but when HE does it its fine. I see how it is. It's because he's a SkyWing, isn't it? You let him get away with stuff!"

Jet's face sagged in disbelief and utter fed-upness. "No. I'm not penalizing him because he DIDN'T BREAK THE RULES!" She blew her whistle aggressively. "EVERYONE GET IN POSITION _NOW_!"

They didn't need to be told twice, although Pheasant slid Jet one last snakey glare. They spread out in a fan-like formation around Sora's goal line. Flame wasn't a hundred percent sure what was going on but it looked as though Sora was about to throw the ball out and they were probably going to have to scramble after it.

Flame's full concentration was on Sora and hoping she wouldn't throw the ball at him, so he failed to react in time when Pheasant threw her wings out before him, feinting to guard him, and clipped him on the snout.

"Why do you SkyWings have to ruin everything?" she hissed only loud enough for Flame to hear. He pinned his ears back, riled by the taunt, but found he didn't quite have the same energy for his fury. Maybe all the tumbling around had burned off his anger. Huh. Perhaps he should join an organized sport to help is anger issues. He could talk to Starf about it later. Right now he just needed to survive the next twenty minutes facing down Pheasant.

He shoved the MudWing aside, or tried to. The best he managed was to tilt her momentarily off balance before she teetered back. She turned her head sharply to glare at him from the corner of her eye. Flame thought that would be it, but it seemed she had more to give than just a spiteful glance.

"Do you want to know why I dislike you so much?"

So concentrated was he on the ball that it took Flame several second to comprehend she was talking and then another few more to take in what she had asked. By then his chance at a retort had passed. Sora flung the ball out into the field. She didn't throw it to Flame, which he was rather glad about, but instead sent it to Reed who was being pitifully guarded by Umber.

With the ball in motion the dragons followed, shifting now to the other side of the field. Flame lunged after them but stopped short, his face slamming to the ground. Pheasant had dug her heels into his tail. She leapt over him, pausing by his ear just long enough to murmur, "I didn't spend five years keeping him alive _in a war_ just to lose him now," and then she was gone. Flame lumbered to his talons, his anger no longer dormant. Oh, it was _on_.

He sunk his talons deep into the earth and put on a burst of speed, his limbs moving as fast as he could convince them to go. Compared to this morning he was definitely warmed up now, his muscles and lungs burning as they were challenged in ways they hadn't been for a while (cooking wasn't exactly an endurance hobby). In no time he was back with the others, but now he had a new target. He spotted Pheasant at the front of the group. She was yelling at Umber to pass her the ball, one talon waving at him while the other was pushing Clay's face aside. Flame watched Umber take aim at Pheasant's position with a ready arm. He followed the line of trajectory in his head and with one calculated leap he swatted the ball from the air right before it reached Pheasant's outstretched hand.

As the ball flew to the left and the others hurried after, Flame and Pheasant locked eyes. "You need to get the hell over yourself," Flame quickly hissed. "If you really gave a shit about Umber's happiness you would let him be with who he wants."

Her enraged expression only heightened his satisfaction…until she shoved him aside with the flick of her shoulder. He grunted at the impact although at least this time he didn't get flattened to the ground. "What would _you_ know about Umber's happiness?" she growled. "Did you kill for him? Risk your life for him every day? Mourn with him?" She snorted and shook her head, disgusted. "You'll never understand him like we do."

"Just watch me," Flame threw back and shot upright, sprinting away from Pheasant and her stinging words. Those things didn't matter. Right? He loved Umber and Umber loved him. End of story. What did Pheasant know anyway?

Eager for a distraction he ran hard to the other side of the field but Pheasant grabbed his tail from behind and pulled. "You SkyWings think you know anything about love. Ha! All your tribe ever did was lord themselves over us. I won't let you do that to my brother while pretending to love him."

Flame nearly chocked on his own rage as he spat out, "PRETENDING!?" Smoke poured from his nose like steam. "I have never _pretended_ anything in my life. What you see is what you get, and FOR YOUR INFORMATION I have never ONCE thought myself better than Umber. In fact I am fully aware of how much I don't deserve him but dammit I'm _trying_."

Despite his best efforts his voice cracked at that last sentence. It had been a long day. He was bruised physically and emotionally, mud and ice caked his scales like thick icing, he might have a broken rib possibly, and to top things all of he now had to deal with Umber's deranged sister that seemed to hate him for no reason at all. He just wanted to lie down in a warm bath and hug Umber.

Slowly and with a few curses he stood, stretching out his knotted back. He dare not look up in fear of meeting that inevitable contempt-full mask over his opponent's face. Instead he observed his shuffling feet. "Look, I'm going to be real with you for a second, even though you don't deserve it," he ignored her snort, "but this is getting fucking stupid and I'm tired and hungry right now and have no patience."

He stretched his neck from side to side, enjoying the pops and cracks that accompanied the motion. Umber thought it was a gross habit but damn if it didn't feel good. "You say I can't understand Umber, that I can never love him like _you_ do, and that I'm just some manipulative SkyWing. Well, first of all, fuck you, and secondly, I don't give a damn what you think!" He managed to get control of his vocal chords somewhat; the last thing we wanted was to become some high-pitched mess of emotions which is what usually happened. "Umber is the most important person to me in the whole world. There isn't a damn thing I wouldn't do for him; no place I wouldn't go, no humiliation I wouldn't put myself through if it meant I could make him happy. But you know what…you're probably right."

At this Pheasant's face struck shocked. Flame curled his tail over his cooling talons, now that he wasn't moving the fine veneer of sweat over his scales was chilling. Flame figured he should shut up before he embarrassed himself even more but for one reason or another he always found it hard to stop once he started. Unable to hold back the emotional word vomit he just let it tumble out.

"Look," he began, "I've been dating your brother for a year but even now I can't shake the feeling that I'm not good enough. So…maybe you're right. Maybe this whole thing is pointless and he'll move on or realize he doesn't want me or find some buff MudWing that's way cooler and nicer than me, but," he swallowed over the hard lump in his throat, "but even if that happens I wouldn't regret a single moment with him because it's the happiest I've ever been and I'm gonna keep loving him with all my heart for as long as he wants me to. So…there," he finished flatly.

Pheasant didn't say anything. She looked confused to say the least, and if Flame was being optimistic, maybe even a tad apologetic. Finally she blew out through her nose and slumped. "I have to admit I…wasn't expecting that."

Flame shrugged. "I don't have anything to hide. I used to keep my feelings to myself but now I don't give a shit."

She nodded slowly, her eyes slipping from Flame's face to focus on something behind him. "Well that's good to know."

Nervous, Flame slowly turned around and gaped in horror at the crowd that had gathered behind him. Reed, Sora, Marsh, Jet, Clay, and Umber were all seated in a semi-circle behind him with various looks of sympathy, or even worse, pity, sketched along their faces save Umber, his amber eyes pools of confusion and heart-break.

Embarrassment flushed over the red dragon. He tried to keep his cool but when he went to speak it sounded like a gargled high-pitched scream. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU ALL BEEN SITTING THERE?!"

"I dunno like a few minutes," Jet answered plainly as if explaining how long she had been waiting in queue to get a taco and _not_ overhearing a very emotional and PRIVATE conversation.

"W...we didn't mean to eavesdrop," Sora added. She fidgeted with her tail, equally as embarrassed as Flame, "but we couldn't really keep playing without you two so we paused to see what was going on…"

"And OH BOY was it enlightening!" Jet burst out moments before getting jabbed in the ribs by Sora. Flame's mortification only deepened, but as Umber stepped forward, his brow feathered into a low-hanging line of distress, did that mortification turn to gut-twisting guilt.

"Flame…is that how you've felt this whole time?" His question bordered on disbelief and anger. Flame bunched his wings together and looked at the ground; his silence was answer enough. His boyfriend took a step forward. "I thought you got over those feelings! How many times do I have to say I love you before you believe it? How many times do I have to tell you I'm not going to leave you for some MudWing or SeaWing or WHATEVER because no matter how amazing they are they'll never be _you_?" He had been slowly walking forward the whole time and now he stood right directly before Flame's bowed head. Flame heard a sigh blow through the MudWing's nose and suddenly there was a talon on his chin, gently pushing it up. Orange eyes met amber and the world melted away in a foggy mist. Flame barely registered Sora shooing everyone away or the remaining figure off to the side.

There was only Umber and the warmth of his palm as it trailed up his jaw to cup his cheek. "How do I prove that I love you just as much as you love me? I'm serious." He brought his other talon to Flame's face to hold the red snout steady before his uncharacteristically intense gaze. "Because whatever it is I'll do it. Whatever you need me to do, whatever it takes, it doesn't matter, but please just _tell me."_

A heartbeat of silence followed that cued Flame to answer…. but he couldn't. What could he say? He would never make Umber go through some task or test to prove his love. It wasn't Umber's fault that Flame was a self-doubting idiot, but now his stupidness had gone and made the MudWing upset and now Umber was looking at him with eyes spindled in desperation for an answer that Flame didn't and never would have.

One heartbeat became two. Thousands of potential words of comfort raced over his tongue but they all tasted flat and dead.

Well…all but three.

The three most powerful words Flame had ever known.

They crashed in his head like a crescendo to drown out all other thoughts and fears and Flame couldn't hold himself back from taking Umber in his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I love you." His small voice cracked and splintered trying to contain such mighty words and all he could do was hold Umber close. The MudWing gasped, maybe at the words or the action, but didn't resist. Scales of soft petals slid over Flame's as Umber's head came to rest in the cruck of his neck. A faint exhale of defeated amusement blew against Flame's neck.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Umber murmured and Flame wasn't sure if it was one of those rhetorical questions or not but he felt inclined to answer anyway.

"Well I don't know about you but I could go for some spicy noodles right about now." He hoped it would make Umber laugh and relief soothed his racing heart when Umber reached up to nuzzle his chin with a kiss.

"This conversation isn't over just so you know," the small dragon turned his stern eyes upwards to meet Flame's but they quickly softened, "but luckily for you I'm not going to turn down a bowl of noodles."

Flame smiled. Umber smiled. Life became a lot less shitty.

A withering sigh punctured the moment and both males turned to see Pheasant. Unlike the others she hadn't politely excused herself, and now she sat staring at them with immense judgement.

"Pheasant!" Umber was the first to break the silence. "T..this was a private conversation!" The faded red of his cheeks was blooming again as he tried to scold his sister. Flame, however, watched Pheasant with silent interest. Was he seeing things or did she look…softer? Less like an angry hippo about to take a bite out of his ass and more like a hippo that was still pretty annoyed but not enough to actually attack.

She opened her mouth but closed it in silence, swishing words around in her mouth before trying again until finally an, "I…guess I owe you an apology," sputtered out.

Flame snorted. "Too late for that! Didn't your mother – erm – _sibs_ ever teach you it's rude to eavesdrop?"

"No not for _that_!" She stomped her foot then took a deep count-to-10-and-calm-down kind of breath; the kind Flame used on a daily basis. "I'm saying sorry because…" her voice seemed stuck in her throat. Her defiant posture wilted and she wrapped her tail over her talons, her expression akin to someone trying to swallow thistles. "…I was wrong about you and about your feelings for my brother. So…my bad."

Umber jolted in surprise and Flame's ears pricked up. "Come again?" he implored with edge. After all the bullshit she had put him through was that the best apology she could offer?! Nuh-uh. There had better be more than that.

The female pursed her lips, ears flat against her head.

"Come on, Pheasant," Umber chided. "I think Flame and I BOTH deserve a little more than an 'oops my bad'."

Pheasant's tail lashed but not even she was could defy those amber eyes of her brother. At length she nodded, gaze downcast. "I…guess I let my own feelings get the better of me. During the war we might have been allied with the SkyWings but they still treated us like dirt." Her words burned with hurt pride and she glanced up at Flame, the scorn weakening. "I thought you were just another arrogant SkyWing playing with my little brother's feelings for the fun of it. But…I can see you really love him." She offered up a smile; partially strained and a little tired but a smile nonetheless. "If you want to be his partner then I'm OK with that…" she narrowed her eyes semi-playfully, "but I'm still watching you."

"Pheasant!" Umber cried indignantly to which the female chuckled.

"Sorry, Umber. Can't help myself." Pheasant shrugged her wings helplessly to contrast the smirk on her face. "You're still my little brother after-all. He could be King of the seven coloured earths and I would still wack him over the head if he made you upset."

 _King of the seven what now?_

The male MudWing, unable to hear Flame's silent confusion, continued the conversation with a soft grimace. "I _can_ take care of myself you know. I'm not a helpless hatchling."

The playful glint of Pheasant's eyes dulled to somber. She sighed, the sunlight carving rivulets of copper-gold into her slouched back. "I know." She got to her feet and went to Umber, pulling him into a half-winged hug. "I keep forgetting how smart you are."

Feeling like he was getting pushed aside again, Flame piped up. "So – uh – does that mean we're cool now?"

Pheasant looked him over once more, stiff yet amicable. "It might take me a while to get used to the idea still but," she paused, eyes flicking to Umber then back, "you're important to Umber, so I guess I'll have to deal with you whether I want to or not." The last sentence was said more with a playful tease rather than actual scorn. She winked. "So yeah, I guess we're cool. In fact, as a show of my goodwill let me take you guys out for those noodles you mentioned….and definitely because I am a good sister and not just because I want noodles."

"Noodles?"

Behind them the little mock-game of wing-ball came to a pause as the MudWings honed in on the food related conversation. Clay, of course, was the first to step forward.

"Did someone say noodles? I love SkyWing noodles!"

"I'd say it's about lunch time anyway," Marsh added, tossing the ball in the air a few times before setting it down. "All this gaming has really worked up an appetite."

Murmurs of agreement rose among the other mud dragons and Flame bit his lip. It was a sorry noodle house indeed that was going to have to feed this troop.

"I know a great place to go!" Jet spoke up, a flash of pink and orange among the earthy browns. She looked up at the sky, gauging the position of the sun. "If we get there now we should beat the lunch rush but we have to hurry!"

"O..oh! OK just give me a sec!" With panicked hurry Marsh gathered as much of the equipment as possible into his fumbling talons. With each helmet or elbow pad grabbed another fell out. Finally Sora and Clay stepped in to offer assistance. Jet was already in the air, urging them to hurry with the promise of 10% discounts and free drinks if they got the daily special.

By the time all the equipment was collected and dropped off the noon crowd was just getting warmed up. In town food vendors were heating griddles and building fires beneath meats dripping with fats and oils. The scent of vibrant spices burned the inside of Flame's nose as he and Jet had to pull the MudWings away from several food-stalls with suckling pig and racks of sizzling meat – or tried to. In the end they did have to stop at a skewer place; it was just too good to pass up. They were coated in deep red chili oil and the smoke that fumed made the lining of Flame's throat burn. Perfect.

Pheasant, to her credit, seemed to be watching herself at least. She still glared murder when a SkyWing rudely pushed past or accidentally stepped on her tail, but she held her tongue. Flame had even watched her hold a good ten second long conversation with Jet that could be described as friendly if not awkwardly so. Flame gave a curt not of appreciated. Maybe there was hope for Pheasant yet. He was still a pretty miffed about the whole thing though but if she was willing to try than so was he. He'd be a hypocrite otherwise.

It was during this slow romp through the street foods of the Capitol that Flame was approached by Reed.

"Hey, could I talk to you for a sec?" His features were soft like rabbit fur and once again those firelight eyes put him at ease. He liked Reed and, as much as he pretended not to care, he really hoped Reed liked him too. This might have shown through in his overenthusiastic reply but Reed paid little mind as he took them a few paces away from the others, closer to the quiet alley between booths that a full grown dragon could barely squeeze through. Flame cast a quick look over this shoulder to check on the others.

They were still busy ordering their sticks of pork-skin and other organ meat; their stomachs busying their minds. Well, except for Umber of course. He had noticed Flame's disappearance. The small MudWing looked around for him, concern pulling down his brows before he spotted Flame a few meters away. He made a motion to follow but Flame gave him a reassuring nod to stay put. He seriously doubted Reed was about to shank him in the streets.

Once alone Reed gave a wry sigh. "You're not in trouble or anything, ha." He rubbed his neck and for the first time Flame noticed the intricate pattern of honeyed scales over russet brows like lacework around his neck and broad shoulders. They were like twice as broad as Flame's and the SkyWing tried not to think of how scrawny he must look next to this mass of earth-cloaked muscles. Flame was forced to stop staring when Reed continued with a, "I just wanted to check to see if everything was OK. How are you doing?"

The red dragon brows quizzed. "Um…fine?"

"What's the look for?" Reed asked, amused. "Do SkyWings not ask those kinds of questions?"

Flame went to retort that of COURSE they do but it dawned on him that thus far in his contrived and confusing life only Starf and Umber had ever asked questions like that. Even his own mother preferred to just demand answers when she suspected something was wrong. He calmly closed his retort-primed mouth and sucked his lower lip in defeat.

Reed tilted his head knowingly. "I know you and Pheasant were having some issues but I saw you all talking earlier. I wanted to know if everything was alright between you."

Flame balked, strings of warmth spindling between the walls of his chest cavity. "That's nice of you to ask and all but…shouldn't you be checking on Pheasant instead? I'm not even a sib."

He shrugged. "You're Umber's partner so that pretty much makes you an honorary sib, and sibs look out for each other." Reed gave him an affectionate, bone-jarring smack on the arm with his wing. Flame hoped the pained tears in his eyes weren't too obvious. "So welcome to the family I guess. Any questions on what it takes to be a MudWing?"

The SkyWing was about to shrug it off with a laugh but then something did some to mind. "Actually yeah I have a question. What the hell are the Seven Coloured Earths?"

"Oh you don't _know_?" Appearing from the crowd with a bouquet of still steaming skewers was Pheasant. With an elegance that reminded Flame of his younger brother trying to eat a plate of lasagna (a truly horrifying sight to behold), Pheasant gulped down a few of the skewers with ravenous fervor. She belched and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's only the most important MudWing folktale ever! If you wanna be a MudWing you gotta learn it by heart."

The shy head of Marsh poked its way around Pheasant's thick arm. "Are we talking about MudWing stories?" he asked. "I always liked the one with the talking crocodile that was really a prince…what was that called again?"

"You mean the Princess and the Croc?" Sora asked. She arrived with Jet, Clay, and Umber who all had meat sticks of their own. Flame hoped that at least _someone_ had remembered to get him some since, based on the herd of disappointed faces leaving the line, the booth had run out.

"Well if we're sharing MudWing stories then I have a few SkyWing legends I could tell," Jet offered with a voice dull and nonchalant that was betrayed by her glimmering eyes.

Sora patted her girlfriend's arm with wry amusement. "Yes honey, I know how much you love to tell your stories but, for the sake of letting others get a word in, maybe that can wait for another night."

"Oh yeah!" Pheasant beamed, most of her food was already gone and stuck between her teeth. "Tonight we're having the best story telling sleep over EVER!" She slurped up the rest of her food and tossed the wooden sticks approximately close to the garbage. "Come on! We have so much stuff to prepare and we haven't even been to that noodle place yet!"

Flame looked around with mild confusion as the group move in unison towards their original destination, chatting excitedly and chewing on meat. Only Umber and Reed stayed back.

Flame looked at his boyfriend. "Sleepover?" he repeated. "Did she say _sleepover?"_

Umber sheepishly handed him a few skewers of chicken gizzard, Flame's favourite, and looked at the ground like it was the coolest thing since someone put gizzard on a stick and set it on fire. "Uh. Well. We were talking and we decided that just one day wasn't enough to catch up. We asked Jet if there was a cheap place for them to stay for a few days and she said there were some empty rooms at the Healing Center so…"

"So we're staying for a week!" Reed boomed and gathered the two shorter dragons up in his wings with a vice grip. Flame groaned, and not just because he felt his ribs pop in several places.

A whole week with Umber's sibs. A whole week with _Pheasant._

Flame had never had issues with high blood pressure before but he had a feeling it was going to become an issue.

At length Reed put them down and Flame's lungs snapped open to take in a gulp of air. Umber merely laughed at Flame's ghastly face.

"Oh don't look so terrified. It'll be great!" Umber said while Flame tried to think of several day-long recipes he could use as an escape. His scheming came to a stuttering stop when Umber reached up to kiss him on the cheek. Quietly he added, "Besides, with so many guests bunking in our room I might have to stay with you for a while."

The tone of his voice was implication enough.

At the sound of Reed's throat clearing the two shuffled apart, not that they were fooling anyone of course.

"We should go find that noodle place before they run out of food," Reed semi-joked but all three suddenly grew very anxious. Umber gobbled down his food quickly and led the way with the others trailing behind. While Flame grappled with his own snack Reed sidled up to his right. "And don't worry, I'll tell you all about MudWing marriage traditions later. I have a feeling you'll be needing that information." He winked and stepped away, pretending as if nothing had happened while Flame tried not to choke on the wooden stick in his mouth.

Oooooooh boy.

This was going to be quite the week.

 **THE END**

* * *

Author's Note:

Oof.

So this was journey. So three chapters later this "one-shot" is now complete. I don't feel the greatest about this story but I opted for finished rather than perfect.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :3


End file.
